


500 Words: 27. Apostrophize

by Sarahtoo



Category: Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries
Genre: Gen, Leigh Danvers, Nicolas Berger
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-20
Updated: 2016-02-20
Packaged: 2018-05-22 05:28:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6066916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarahtoo/pseuds/Sarahtoo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A conversation between two of my original characters, in response to a most difficult "500 Words" prompt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	500 Words: 27. Apostrophize

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fire_Sign](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fire_Sign/gifts).



> Note: This story is completely self-indulgent. It stars two of my original characters, who are dear to my heart but have no real bearing on the show. Timewise, it’s set in early 1932; Nicolas Berger came into Jack’s life in [Continuing Education](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5519474), and Leigh Danvers came into Mac’s life in [The Surprise of Being Loved](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4996279). I’m not sure either Jack or Mac were ready for them. :D

_verb **apos·tro·phize**   \ə-_ _ˈp_ _äs-trə-_ _ˌf_ _īz\  
apos·tro·phized   apos·tro·phiz·ing_

**transitive verb**  
1:  to address by or in apostrophe

 **intransitive verb**  
1:  to make use of apostrophe

 

“Hello, _tante_ Leigh!”

Leigh looked up from the papers laid out on her desk at the college library with a smile for her honorary nephew. Their familial relationship was complicated, but their personal connection was strong. Nico had come to find his father the year before, and it hadn’t been long before he’d stolen the hearts of all of the Fisher-Robinson chosen family. Leigh adored him.

“Nico, hello! Don’t you look smart?” She said, getting up to hug him and trade hello cheek-kisses. He wore his school uniform well, its navy blazer and blue-and-red sweater vest setting off the bright blue eyes she’d been told he’d inherited from his mother, and his dark brown hair curled down around his ears and over his forehead. He grinned and hugged her back. “Would you like a cup of tea?” She rounded her desk again, reaching to plug in her electric kettle.

“Oh, _non_ , but thank you! I wondered if you ’ave a few minutes to ’elp me with an essay I am writing?” His low voice, with its French accent, was lovely—he got that from his father. Nico swung his book bag to the floor as he sat down in her visitor chair.

“Of course, I’d be happy to,” she said. “What’s the subject?”

“It is for my Literature class,” he explained, leaning over to dig in his bag. “A report on Hawthorne’s _The Scarlet Letter_.” He looked up at her, his eyes hopeful. “My _papa_ was going to ’elp, but ’e is on a case tonight, and I ’ave to turn this in tomorrow. ’E thought you might have read it?”

“I’ve read it,” she said easily, reaching to take the papers that he held out. “Not for a few years, but I’ve read it.” She looked over the work. His handwriting was very good—a little surprising, because his father’s was atrocious—and his English had improved greatly in the nine months he’d been in Australia. “May I write on this?” She reached over to her pencil cup to pull out a red-ink pen.

“Please do,” he said. “I still need work on my English, I know.” He settled back in her visitor’s chair, looking at her as he opened the book for his next assignment.

Nico loved the way that Leigh looked. Her blonde hair, pulled back in a soft bun, waved around her face, and her green eyes sparkled with intelligence. Today’s dress had a calf-length skirt and long sleeves  that cuffed at her wrists, diagonally striped in hunter green and cream; the collar and button placket were the same fabric, but the bodice was a faux vest style of a solid fabric in the same green. The belt at her waist emphasized her curves. His _tante_ Leigh was a beautiful woman, but her real beauty came from within.

When he’d first understood that she and his _tante_ Mac were romantically involved, he was a little shocked that everyone in the family knew and approved of their relationship. Back in his village in France, there had been “war widows” who had moved in together to raise their fatherless children in a community way. With those women, their secret was open, but it was gossiped about. Nico’s mother had shaken her head at the women who’d clucked their tongues at the war widows. His _maman_ had believed that love was sacred, no matter what guise it took. He was glad that his Australian family felt the same. Leigh and Mac deserved their happiness.

“This is excellent, Nico!” Leigh looked up from his paper a few minutes later, her smile encouraging.

“It is all right, then?” He asked, leaning forward.

“Better than all right,” she said. “Your English has come so far! I’ve marked a few places where your spelling is off—and no,” she said as he opened his mouth to ask, “I won’t tell you the correct spelling; that’s what dictionaries are for.” She shot him a mock-admonitory glance and he grinned sheepishly at her. “There’s just one thing that you’ll need to work on: apostrophes.”

Nico gave her a confused look.

“In English, we use apostrophes for two things: to show possession and in contractions, to show that a letter or letters have been removed.” Nico’s brows drew together, but he nodded. Leigh reached into her desk drawer and extracted a sheet of paper.

“Generally, showing possession means that you add an apostrophe-s to the end of a noun.” She wrote _Nico’s_ on her paper. Her voice had taken on a lecturing tone. “If you have a noun that ends in s or a plural noun,” here, she wrote _James_ and _cats_ , “You add the apostrophe after the s.” She did so, making _James’_ and _cats’_. “The only place you don’t use an apostrophe for possession is with pronouns.” With that, she wrote _yours_ , _its_ , _his_ , and _hers_. “Does that make sense?”

Nico was nodding. “This is very different than French.” But he had pulled his paper toward him and was scanning it for possessives.

“The other use of apostrophes in English _is_ like French, though,” Leigh said with a smile. “Apostrophes are used in contractions to indicate that letters have been removed. So, just as in _c’est bien_ and _l’amour_ ,” she wrote these on the paper, pausing to flutter her lashes ridiculously at the latter word, just to hear him laugh, “English has _you’re_ and _you’ve_ , _I’m_ and _we’re_.” She wrote them out. “Most of these happen with versions of the verb _to be_ — _I am_ becomes _I’m_ , _you are_ becomes _you’re_. The other common one is _to have_ — _you have_ becomes _you’ve_ , and _we have_ becomes _we’ve_.” As she wrote, Nico nodded harder, his face brightening. “Most of the time, in English, contractions aren’t appropriate in formal writing. They’re fine in something like a letter, but not in a paper like this one.”

“Ah!” he said, his tone triumphant, “I understand this!”

“Good!” she replied, her smile broad. “Then go forth and apostrophize!” He opened his mouth, and she smoothly interjected, “and no, I won’t tell you where—”

With a laugh, he finished the sentence with her, “—that’s what dictionaries are for!” Gathering up his papers and the one she’d been writing examples on, Nico packed up his things, and she stood to see him out.

“Thank you for your help, _tante_ Leigh,” he leaned in to hug her and give her a kiss on each cheek.

“You are very welcome, Nico,” she said, her voice warm.

“See you for dinner on Sunday?” His question was perfunctory—it had become a weekly tradition for all of the family to get together, usually at Phryne and Jack’s house, for a meal. It was an evening generally filled with good food, good conversation, and good friends.

“Wouldn’t miss it,” she replied with a smile.

“ _Eh bien_ ,” he said, “say hello to _tante_ Mac for me.”

“ _Absolument_ ,” she said; Mac would be sorry that she’d missed him. With a grin, Nico left, turning at the library’s outer door to send her one last wave before he was out of sight. Leigh smiled to herself, feeling fortunate to know him, and headed back to her work.


End file.
